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I agree with the sitting on your backside part; that kind of isolation will have you thinking about putting a gun to your head in no time. But, the real issue is finding a way to become self supportive. Skills training for the sake of skills development is expensive, and until the market provides some indication perhaps wasteful.

Starting a small business sounds good, but most of them fail within a couple of years, and we haven't been doing much to provide breaks for small enterprise. Insurance requirements, license, permits and other fees, and ADA requirements are enough to choke the life out of many of them. It would be nice to provide some regulatory breaks for small startups; perhaps then it will catch on and we can do the same for larger businesses.

As far as unemployment benefits run; in my home state they will barely cover your COBRA fees. You are immediately reduced to savings, credit, and whatever you can beg off your familiy and friends.

Your laundry list of government interference in the economy is one MAJOR reason for outsourcing. Government IS the problem, just not quite the way some here are alleging. Thus, Bush CAN do something to improve the economy: Get FedGov the hell out of the way. Stop regulating us to death. Abolish the alphabet regulatory agencies. Et cetera.